Sunday, September 4, 2011

Iran's Nuclear Power Plant starts to produce electricity

Iran's first nuclear power plant joined the national power grid on Saturday with an initial 60mw power generation capacity, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced on Sunday.

"The Bushehr nuclear power plant joined the national power grid at 23:29 local time on Saturday September 3 with the capacity of generating 60mw electricity," a statement by the AEOI said.

The statement also said that the Iranian authorities will continue their tests to ensure that the power plant is in full harmony with the national power grid.

According to the AEOI, Iran will hold a ceremony to mark the start of operation and power generation by the Bushehr nuclear power plant at the venue of the plant on September 12.

Iran signed a deal with Russia in 1995, according to which the plant was originally scheduled for completion in 1999. However, the project was repeatedly delayed by the Russian side due to the intense pressure exerted on Moscow by the United States and its western allies. Russia finally completed construction of the plant last summer.

On October 26, Iran started injecting fuel into the core of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the initial phase of launching the nuclear reactor.

The second consignment of fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant was delivered from Russia earlier this year.

The facility operates under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).